LETTER: Vital that public health care be protected

Monte McNaughton, MPP for Lambton Kent Middlesex and new Minister of Labour, has written to the local papers extolling his support, and his achievements for local healthcare. He announced a half million dollars for architectural work needed at Wallaceburg and Chatham campuses, and the then-Minister of Infrastructure stated it “was my proudest day in politics”.

This money was used for supplementing the money put aside by the CKHA for planning the changes needed at both campuses, through architectural drawings. Announcing the money for the planning grant, McNaughton pointed to the “increase” in funding for Ontario’s hospitals.

McNaughton reviewed his support for the Sydenham District Hospital. He was in fact a part in the local campaign to save the hospital, as were the citizens of Wallaceburg, SOS, the Wallaceburg-Walpole Island Health Coalition and the Ontario Health Coalition.

“Access to local health care is essential to the people of Ontario. People shouldn’t have to travel far to receive the care that they require and deserve.” He should have added that healthcare should be public and have no hidden costs attached to that care.

McNaughton states the Conservative government is not cutting healthcare. He comments the Conservatives are ending hallway medicine: this will be done by adding 15,000 new LTC beds, 1,100 additional hospital beds and committing to upgrades to 128 hospitals. He states the new Ontario Health Teams will put the patient experience first.

These are the facts: the two per cent heath care funding hike is less than the rate of inflation, and most hospitals continue their downsizing and layoffs. There is a staffing crisis in the LTC sector, so building beds that cannot be staffed will not alleviate Hallway Medicine. Eleven hundred new hospital beds have yet to be permanently opened. Thousands of beds across the province lie empty due to 30 years of austerity by other governments. Doug Ford has not re-opened them permanently. The new Ontario Health Teams contain private for-profit companies, creating entities, more like conglomerates than teams.

A reshuffling of the provincial Cabinet has now landed McNaughton in a new ministry: Labour. His background is business. In fact, when the former Chatham Navistar was in trouble some years ago, McNaughton sided with the company over the unionized workers. He recently commented that the U.S. “right to work” legislation would be a good model for Ontario. This legislation lets workers decide whether they wish to be part of a union or not, and many see it as a way to get rid of unions. What could happen is that workers would decide to work for less money, to prevent jobs from leaving. Unions say right to work legislature would greater income disparity by undermining union strength and rights to collective bargaining, while union strength leads to improved wages and benefits for employees. Income disparity is one of the social determinants of health.

Ford’s and McNaughton’s “Government for the People” pledges to put people at the centre of everything, Yet the Ford government is pro-privatization and pro for profit business. Access to public healthcare is one of the pinnacles of the Canada Health Act. There must be no profit made from people being sick, and there should be no government that supports for profit health services.

McNaughton is a pleasant fellow. But he stands shoulder to shoulder with Ford, and the stated policies of the Conservative government are not in any way advantageous to the people of Ontario. It is crucial that Ontarians fight back against these plans. We must fight to protect public healthcare, public education, unionism and so many more principles! Three years can pass quickly, and I do hope that our elected officials find the courage to make an abrupt 180-degree turn, and truly start to serve the people.